By Dolly Yasa
BACOLOD City – Netizens took to social media for what they claim was the alleged “mishandling” of the city Department of Social Services and Development (DSSD) of the distribution of financial assistance to sectors affected by the Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) status of the city.
Photos of the crowd at the Bacolod Government Center (BCG) sans social distancing flooded social media Saturday morning.
Police estimated the crowd to have reached thousands, many of whom slept at the BCG grounds the night before to line up in the distribution.
The crowd were mostly from the transport sector and vendors.
DSSD head Pacita Tero blamed “fake news” for the unexpected crowd at the BCG.
In a statement Sunday, Tero said “as you may have heard, there was an unexpected situation earlier yesterday [September 26] at the BCG. Let me first explain what was already in progress before the said event happened.”
She said that “early last week, the DSWD tasked us at the DSSD to identify, interview, and distribute additional financial aid to our most affected sectors during this COVID crisis. The procedure to process this financial assistance was made to accommodate only those who were already pre-identified for interview.”
“We had begun interviewing since last Saturday [September 19] and have been targeting a quota of around 100 people per day. With this going on for nearly a week now, the number that turned out Saturday morning came as a complete shock to us,” she added.
Tero further said that the people had begun to cut in line, putting those who came earlier including seniors, in an uncomfortable and unsafe situation.
“The crowd was so big in magnitude that we saw it was no longer manageable or feasible to continue our usual distribution so the police officers on duty immediately instructed everyone to vacate the area,” she said.
Tero further said that “We have heard reports of people who had intentionally or unintentionally spread misinformation that gave false hope to those who came hoping to be selected. May we appeal to the public in this age of fake news: Let us only get our information from official sources.”
“In the light of this experience, the DSSD is now reassessing the whole program and evaluating strategies to safely and efficiently distribute the assistance.”
Tero said “in the meantime, we wish to announce that the program is being suspended indefinitely. We hope for your understanding.”
